Veto of HB115 was wise

During the recent legislative session, I voted in favor of HB115, Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarships. I added an amendment to the bill, but I now believe that amendment was insufficient and did not resolve the problems in the bill.

Gov. Olene Walker recently vetoed the bill. I will not support an override of the governor's veto. I obtained a copy of an opinion on HB115 from the Attorney General's Office that was written after the Legislature adjourned. The following points in that opinion validate the veto:

1) The State Board of Education is given an appropriation from the Uniform School Fund to administer the scholarship program. The board's "precise responsibility to deal with a student and parent in a private school . . . is not clear, and it should be."

Some standards to guide the board should have been included in HB115, "and there are none."

2) "HB115 authorizes the state board to make rules to require assurances and provide sanction for non-compliance. . . . However, no procedure is set forth."

3) "The $100,000 appropriation from the Uniform School Fund to administer the scholarship program for private students in private schools potentially violates the Utah Constitution."

4) If a parent of a disabled student files a complaint about the services in a private school (and complaints about special-education services are common), the complaint may be impossible for the State Board of Education to resolve. HB115 offers no standards or evaluation protocols.

The Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship program may have been a first step in giving the State Board of Education some control over private schools that are separate and apart from the public school system.

However, the bill did not clearly define the responsibilities or authority. Gov. Walker was wise to see the problems in this bill and veto it.

Rep. Sheryl Allen

Bountiful